Undergarment



Aug. l, 1944. E. DONALDSON x-:TAL 2,354,669

UNDERGARMENT Filed Aug. 4, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l In den-Z101 Aug 1 1944'E. DoNALDsoN ETAL 2,354,659

Patented Aug. 1,1944

UNDERGARMEN T Eleanor Donaldson and Franklin chateau-Minneapolis, Minn.;said Chatlield assignol' to Muneapolis, Minn., a corporasingwear Inc.,Minn tion Application August 4, 1941, sol-iai No. 405,328

4 claims. (Cl. 2-224) This invention relates to a. garment and while theconstruction might have various applications, it particularly isdesigned for embodiment in an undergarment. Such an undergarment can bemade for men, women ol' children although in the embodiment of theinvention illustrated, a garment for men is shown.

It has been previously proposed to make garments of material which hasmore stretch in one direction than another, but the garments of theprior art along this line have not been practical or constructed so thata useful and practical garment was produced. It is desirable inundergarmnets to have the material stretchable at certain parts and indefinite directions but -it is necessary for comfort and also to enablethe garment to keep in proper position that this stretching eiect beproperly disposed and limited.

It is an object of this invention to provide a garment made principallyof material which is 'stretchable in one direction but not appreciablystretchable, or much less stretchable, in the other direction, saidmaterial being disposed in the various parts of the garment to give thedesired effect, which eiect is limited by other parts or constructionsof the garment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an undergarmentpreferably having Aa narrow band at its top stretchablecircumferentially adapted to surround the waist of the wearer, saidgarment having a front portion with a central zone which isnon-stretchable appreciably in either direction but having zones at eachside thereof which are stretchable laterally but substantiallynon-stretchable or having much less ment.

It is further an object of the invention to provide an undergarmenthaving front and rear portions together with a crotch piece ofconsiderable width connecting the front and rear portions and half wayfrom the top of the garment to the front end ofthe crotch piece, thegarment between' said crotch piece and zone comprising overlappedlayers'having free edges to form a slit, the said front portion at thesides of said zone being stretchable laterally but not vertically andsaid overlapped layers being of such width that no opening will occurwhen said garment is stretched v stretch vertically or longitudinalllyof the garhaving front and rear ends disposed substantially laterally.

These and other objects and advantagesof the invention will be fully setforth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views and in Which- Fig. 1 is `aview in front elevation of one form of the garment;

Fig. V2 -is a central vertical section taken substantially on line 2-2of Fig. 1 as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation of saidgarment;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 shown on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is a view in rear elevation of a modified form of garment; and

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section taken substantially on line 6 6 ofFig. 5 as indicated by the arrows.\

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1 to 4, an undergarment isshown having a front portion I0. This front portion is divided into twoparts or zones by a. central zone l I disposed centrally of the frontportion and extending to the line IIa which is located approximatelyhalf way or somewhat more than half way to the upper4 end I2a of thecrotch piece I2. The zoney Il as shown in Fig. 4, is madeof a pluralityof layers IIb, Ilc and IId. One of these layers, preferably the middlelayer or layer I Ic, is made of material which is substantiallynon-stretchable in either direction,'such as light muslin. The otherlayers are made of the same 'material as the front portion Ill, whichmaterial is easily and freely stretchable in one direction but issubstantially non-stretchable or much less stretchable in a direction atright angles thereto. In the front portion I0 the material is disposedso that it has little or no appreciable stretch vertically orlongitudinally of the garment. The layers of the zone I I are connectedby a plurality of stitches Ile extending along the sides thereof andthere may be additional lines of stitching extending longitudinally ofsaid zone. By stitching the layersV I Ib, IIc and IId together .asdescribed, the zone il is made substantially nonstretchable in eitherdirection. The front yportion I therefore, has the central zone II whichisnoii-stretchable in either direction and it has the zones I0a ateither side of the zone II `which into unduly stretched positions on thebody, as

when pulled upon, as would a garment which had a whole front portioncontinuous and uniform of laterally stretchable material. The zone IIbeing connected to the band I3, is kept in the center of the body at thefront. Withthe described construction therefore, the advantage of thelateral stretching is secured but the disadvantage of undue stretchingat certain points of the front and the resulting'dislocation anddiscomfort are eliminated. Below the line IIa the layers IIb, IIc andIId are continued and only the two top layers I Ib and I Ic areconnected by seams at their edges'. The two layers IIb and IIe are thusconnected together in non-stretchable relation and the edges of theinner layer IId as shown at the right in Fig. 1 and the edges of layersIIb and IIc as shown at the left of Fig. 1 are left free. There is thusan opening or slit at the front of the garment between the inner layerand the two connected outer layers. The width of said portions below theline I Ia can be varied but this width should be such that when thegarment is taken hold of at the sides of the front portion I0 andstretched laterally n o openingwill appear at the portion below the lineIIa.- y f The crotch piece I2 is provided. and this is of appreciable orconsiderable width'and has a front end I2a and rear end I2b, which endsare-'disposed substantially the same distance from the topf of thegarment. The material is arranged in the crotch piece so that saidcrotch piece is freely stretchable laterally but has little stretch oris substantially non-stretchable longitudinally. As shown in Figs. 1 and3 the front end f2a is slightly curved with its convex side uppermostband I 3 as shown at Mb. In the form of garment shown in Figs. 1 to 3very small or short leg portions I5 are provided and these are formed bya tape or strip of fabric attached to the front and rear portions I0 andI4 and the crotch piece I2 as shown. This material may be different fromthe material of which the main portion of the garment is made and thesame may be of iiner a'nd closer weave. The leg portions I5 however, areslightly stretchable circumferentially. The material from which thefront, rear and crotch portions are made is indicated in the drawings las a ribbed woven material.

In Figs. 5 and 6 a modied garment is shown in which the band I3 is usedand which garment has a front portion IB having the zone II and theconstruction from line IIa to the top of the crotch piece I2 identicalwith the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4 already described. The garmentin Figs. 5 and 6 however, has longer leg portions I6 andthe rear portionI1 has its lower side edges IIa formed on a compound curve merging withthe curve of the crotch piece. The leg portions I6 extend downwardlycontinuously with the front portion I8 and the material is arranged thesame as it is inl the front portion so that leg portions I 6 arestretchable circumferentially.

Leg portions I6 are each shown as provided with wide hems secured by aseam Ia. The iront portion I8 is shown in section at Fig. 6 and this hasthe three layers I Ib, IIc and IId as already stated, the separatelayers not being shown in Fig. 6 due to the smallness of scale. The rearpiece I1 has the slight gathering where it is attached to band I3 asshownat Ila. The front and rear ends of the crotch piece are shown asI'Ic and Ilb respectively and they are substantially the same distancefrom the band I3.

From the above 'description it will be seen that we have provided anovel and efficient form of garment and one that has advantages over theand the rear end I2b is also shown as curved with its convex sideuppermost. It will also be seen that the crotch piece increases in widthappreciably from its central portion of the center of the crotch to itsrear top edge I2b. The crotch extends outwardly and upwardly from therear upper portions of the crotch piece I2. This is true in both thegarment shown in Figs.` 1 to 4 and the garment shown in Figs. 5 and 6.The

materiaLin th rear portion I4 is arranged to stretch freely verticallyor longitudinally of the garment and it thus has little or noappreciable stretch laterally. In order thatthe band VI3 can lstretch atthe rear portion of the garment to the desired degree, the upper part ofthe rear portion' I4 is gathered slightly where it is connected to l75garments of the prior art and can be worn with great comfort. The crotchpiece as stated, has its front and' rear ends substantially the samedistance from the top of the garment. The crotch piece is thus centrallylocated and the shape of this crotch piece has been carefully worked out-to-give the greatest comfort, while at the same ltime permitting thedesired stretch in the desired direction of the parts without distortionof the garment. It will be seen that the rear portion I4 of the garmenthas a wide lower portion connected t0 the side rear end of the crotchpiece so that the vertical stretch can be obtained without the tendencyto draw the crotch piece into a line. The stretch can take placevertically clear across the rear end of the crotch piece. The widecrotch piece together with the leg portions adjacent thereto thus act tokeep the garment nicely fitted to the form of the wearer. The crotchpiece can stretch laterally to accommodate leg movements but will notstretch longitudinally, thus holding the front and rear portions inproper position. The garment is designed to lfit snugly and neatlyaround the legs of the wearer and upwardly around the; wearers bodytothe waist portion. The band I3 snugly lits the waist of the wearer andwhat might be called a skin-tight garment is produced. The parts are soformed, arranged and connected however, that the vdesired stretch is'had at the right places and inthe right directions without distortingthe garment, pulling it'to one side or interfering with its snugskin-tight iit. The garment has been produced after much study of theproblems encountered, much experimentation and by work oi a highlyinventive character. While the portions lil and IB have been designatedfront portions, it will be noted that they do extend somewhat beyond thesides of the wearer to the'sides of the rear portion I4. The garment hasbeen amply demonstrated in actual practice and found to be verysuccessful and eflicient. The same is device capable of carrying out theobjects above set forth, in the parts and combinations of partsdisclosed and defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

I. An undergarment having in combination, a comparatively narrow band atits top stretchable circumferentially and adapted to surround the waistof the wearer, said garment having short leg portions and a crotch pieceof considerable length and width having its front and rear endssubstantially the same distance from said band. said crotch piece beingstretchable freely laterally but being substantially non-stretchablelongitudinally, a front portion extending from said band to said crotchpiece having a narrow central zone, said zone being non-stretchablelaterally and longitudinally and extending from said band approximatelyhalf the distance to said crotchA piece, a rear seat portion of lesswidth than the width of said garment extending from said crotch piece tosaid band and extending outwardly and upwardly from each side of saidcrotch piece and then extending substantially rectilinearly to saidband, said seat portion being freely stretchable vertically but beingsubstantially non-stretchable laterally, said front'portion extendingfrom either side o1' said narrow zone to the sides of the seat portionand being freely stretchable laterally at each side of said zone butsubstantially nonstretchable vertically, said narrow zone comprisingsuperposed layers, one of which is of material non-stretchable in eitherdirection and terminates at the bottom of said zone, said plurality oflayers continuing below said zone to said crotch piece and having freeedges to form a slit opening, said slit opening being of such length andwidth that no opening at the front will appear when said front is fullystretched laterally.

2. An undergarment having in combination, a band yat its top adapted tosurround the waist of the wearer, said garment having short leg portionsand a crotch piece of considerable length, formed of a separate piece ofmaterial and having front and rear ends disposed substantially the samedistance from said band, said crotch piece at its front portion beingstretchable freely laterally but having little if any stretchlongitudinally. 'a front portion extending from said band to said crotchpiece and having a narrow central' zone made of superposed layersstitched together so that said zone is substantially non-stretchablelaterally and longitudinally. said zone extending from said bandsubstantially half-way to said crotch piece, said front portion at eachside of said'central zone being freely stretchable laterally but havinglittle if any stretch vertically, and a rear seat portion extending fromsaid crotch piece to said band and extending outwardly and upwardly fromeach side of said crotch piece and having' its sides extendingsubstantially rectilinearly to said band, said seat portion being ofless width than the width of said garment and being freely stretchablevertically but having little if any stretch laterally and extendinglaterally to and connected to the sides of said front portion.

3. An undergarment having in combination, a comparatively narrow band atits top stretchable circumferentially and adapted to surround the waistof the wearer, said garment having short leg portions and a crotch pieceof considerable length and width having its front and rear endssubstantially the same distance from said band, said crotch beingstretchable freely laterally but being substantially non-stretchablelongitudinally, a front portion having a narrow central zone comprisingthree layers, one of which is non-stretchable in either direction, saidzone thus being nonstretchable laterally and longitudinally, said zoneextending substantially half-way from. said band to said crotch piece,said front portion from the lower end of said zone to saidcrotch-piececomprising overlapping layers unconnected to thus form aslit, said front portion being freely stretchable laterally at each sideof said zone, a rear seat portion extending from the rear end of saidcrotch piece to said band and extending outwardly and upwardly from eachside of said crotch-piece and then extending substantially rectilinearlyto ysaid band, said rear seat portion being of less width than the widthof said garment and connected at its sides tothe respective sides ofsaid front portion and being freely stretchable vertically butsubstantially non-stretchable laterally.

4. An undergarment having in combination, a band at its top and adaptedto surround the waist of the wearer, said garment having legportions anda crotch piece formed of a separate piece of material and having itsfront and rear ends disposed substantially the same distance from saidband, said crotch piece being stretchable freely laterally but havingsubstantially no stretch longitudinally, a front portion extending fromsaid band to said crotch piece and having a narrow central zonesubstantially non-stretchable laterally and longitudinally, saidy zoneextending from said band substantially half way to said crotch piece,said front portion at each side oi.' said central zone being freelystretchable laterally but having substantially no stretch vertically,and a rear seat portion extending from said crotch piece to said bandand having its sides connected to the respective sides of said frontportion, said seat portion being freely stretchable vertically buthaving substantially no stretch laterally.

EIEANOR DONALDSON.

FRANKLIN CHATFIELD.

